{"id":2521506,"date":"2025-12-15T18:01:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-delays-boasberg-contempt-inquiry-into-2026\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T18:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:03:13","slug":"appeals-court-delays-boasberg-contempt-inquiry-into-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-delays-boasberg-contempt-inquiry-into-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeals court delays Boasberg contempt inquiry into 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fappeals-court-delays-boasberg-contempt-inquiry-into-2026%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2521506&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-court-is-fast-tracking-sidney-powells-request-for-a-forensic-exam-of-dominion-voting-machines\/\" title=\"Federal ... Is Fast-Tracking Sidney Powell\u2019s Request For A Forensic Exam Of Dominion Voting Machines\">federal appeals court<\/a> has postponed U.S. District Judge James Boasberg&#8217;s contempt inquiry into the Trump governance until early 2026. The court ordered both the Trump administration and the American Civil Liberties Union to submit briefs addressing whether the district court has the legal authority to conduct the inquiry into alleged &#8220;indirect contempt&#8221; by the administration. The case involves boasberg&#8217;s scrutiny of the Trump administration&#8217;s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals and whether <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >officials defied court orders<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jim-jordan-teases-hearings-on-orders-to-stop-deportation\/\" title=\"Jim Jordan teases hearings on orders to stop deportation\">stop deportation flights<\/a>. The Justice Department has appealed to block the contempt hearings,arguing that Boasberg exceeded his constitutional authority and cannot remain impartial. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-court-blocks-fda-ban-on-juul-products\/\" title=\"Federal ... blocks FDA ban on Juul products\">appeals court granted<\/a> a temporary halt to the proceedings but has not ruled on the underlying issues. The controversy also touches on separation-of-powers concerns, with critics claiming the judge&#8217;s inquiry intrudes on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-governor-temporarily-steps-down-leaving-republican-official-to-fill-the-void\/\" title=\"Arizona Governor temporarily steps aside, allowing Republican official to take charge.\">executive branch decisions<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Appeals court delays Boasberg contempt inquiry into 2026, orders briefing on court&rsquo;s authority<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2442048\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A federal appeals court on Monday delayed U.S. District Judge <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3353353\/james-boasberg-dc-judge-impeachment-trump-immigration\/\">James Boasberg&rsquo;s<\/a> contempt inquiry until the new year and ordered the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\">Trump administration<\/a> to file briefs in the coming weeks as to whether it believes the district court has the authority to pursue the investigation at all.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.cadc.42696\/gov.uscourts.cadc.42696.01208805476.0_1.pdf\">In a per curiam order<\/a>, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit instructed attorneys for the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/aclu\/\">American Civil Liberties Union<\/a> to file a response by Dec. 29 and gave the Trump administration until Jan. 5, 2026, to reply. The panel directed both sides to address the legal basis for Boasberg&rsquo;s pursuit of what he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3383337\/tom-homan-dismisses-james-boasberg-criminal-contempt-deporting-migrants\/\">has for months described<\/a> as a case involving &ldquo;indirect contempt&rdquo; by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3917946\/fbi-handling-brown-university-shooting-investigation-renews-scrutiny-kash-patel\/\">FBI&#8217;s handling of Brown University shooting investigation renews scrutiny of Kash Patel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3917869\/doj-thwarts-new-years-eve-terrorist-plot-los-angeles-left-wing-group\/\">DOJ thwarts &#8216;horrific&#8217; New Year&#8217;s Eve terrorist plot in LA by left-wing, pro-Palestinian group<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3916085\/trump-awaits-court-decisions-national-guard-deployments\/\">Trump awaits court decisions on National Guard deployments even as protests fade<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The panel of judges said that the issue they will consider next month is whether a district court may investigate conduct that took place outside a judge&rsquo;s presence, and whether a jurist may delay referring the matter for prosecution while they look for evidence that misconduct occurred.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In seeking information about decisions made outside the presence of the court and referencing the possibility of a referral for prosecution, the district court appears to contemplate indirect contempt proceedings,&rdquo; the panel wrote, citing <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/supreme-court\/\">Supreme Court<\/a> precedent and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 42.<\/p>\n<p>Boasberg has been overseeing litigation challenging the Trump administration&rsquo;s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang. He had scheduled contempt hearings this week to examine whether administration officials intentionally defied his March order directing deportation flights to turn around while en route to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/el-salvador\/\">El Salvador<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/justice-department\/\">Justice Department<\/a> appealed and sought a writ of mandamus to block the hearings and remove Boasberg from the case, arguing he crossed constitutional boundaries and could no longer preside impartially. A divided D.C. Circuit panel granted an administrative stay on Friday, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3916302\/doj-appeals-court-halt-boasbergs-contempt-hearing\/\">pausing the proceedings<\/a> and a hearing slated for Monday, while emphasizing that the move did not reflect a ruling on the merits.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3912591\/judge-boasberg-seeks-testimony-from-doj-whistleblower-in-criminal-contempt-inquiry\/\"><strong>JUDGE JAMES BOASBERG SEEKS TESTIMONY FROM DOJ &lsquo;WHISTLEBLOWER&rsquo; IN CRIMINAL CONTEMPT INQUIRY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The underlying deportation policy has already reached the Supreme Court, which <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3374144\/what-to-expect-supreme-court-trump-alien-enemies-act\/\">in April allowed<\/a> the Trump administration to invoke the Alien Enemies Act.<\/p>\n<p>Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pam-bondi\/\">Pam Bondi <\/a>has described Boasberg&rsquo;s contempt inquiry as unconstitutional and retaliatory, accusing the judge of threatening separation-of-powers principles by investigating internal <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/executive-branch\/\">executive branch<\/a> decision-making.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Appeals court delays Boasberg contempt probe to 2026, orders briefs on court&#8217;s authority<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2521507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25079589477125.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32324,52306,67371],"class_list":["post-2521506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-appeals-court","tag-boasberg","tag-contempt-inquiry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25079589477125.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2521506"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2521510,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521506\/revisions\/2521510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2521507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2521506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2521506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2521506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}